sugar & vinegar free sauces.

Once we decided that sugar and vinegar were no longer foods we wished to put into our bodies, the search was on to find dressings and sauces that omitted both of these ingredients. After months of looking for pre-made sauces it was time to make my own.
I started with a ketchup recipe as my son will eat anything that has sauce on it! I make this in much smaller quantities as it will only last for about a week in the fridge and this reciepe is far too much for one little man to eat!

Sugar-free Ketchup

Ingredients
350g tomato paste
1/2 cup + 3 tblsp water
1/4 cup + 1 tblsp agave nectar
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2-3 tblsp lemon juice

Preparation
1.  Place all ingredients in blender and blend together.
2.  Place in sealed jar or container and store in fridge.

Mayonnaise

Mayonnaise

Ingredients
1 egg
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp dry mustard powder
1 cup of extra light olive oil
1/2 tsp (drizzle) raw honey

Preparation
1. Place first 4 ingredients in a blender.
2. On a high speed start adding the oil in a very slow drizzle to ensure that the egg and oil emulsify.
3. When all the oil is incorporated store in the refridgerator.

NB. For a thicker mayonnaise just add more oil.

No soup for me!

Well I decided to start with a few soup recipes as we are having soup  at least 5 times a week and were getting a bit fed up with the same soup every other day.

It is always good to make extra quantites so you can freeze in individual portions for quick meal.

The first is my sons favourite soup of the moment which was adapted from a Jamie Oliver recipe.

I like to puree this soup but you can decide if you want to leave it chunky or even puree half and leave the other half whole.
                                                                     

                                                                             

                                                                                

Leek and Chickpea Soup

Serves 4

Ingredients

2 x 410g cans of chickpeas

3 medium leeks

1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

2 clove of garlic finely sliced

1 x 9cm piece of kombu*

850ml chicken or vegetable stock

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

1. Soak kombu in hot water for 15 mins to soften. Remove the outer skin of the leeks, slice lengthways from root up, wash carefully and slice thinly.

2. Heat the olive oil in a large pan, add the leeks and garlic and sweat gently until leeks are soft and tender. Do not allow leeks to brown.

3. Add the drained chickpeas and cook for 1 minute. Cut kombu into small pieces and add to pan with about two-thirds of the stock and simmer for 15 minutes.

4. Place in a processor and either blend to a puree or puree half and leave half whole.

5. Return to pan and add remaining stock to achieve the consistency you like and seasoning to taste.

6. Serve with a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a grind of pepper.

* Kombu is a seaweed which is a member of the kelp family,it is a versatile pantry ingredient that provides dishes with flavour, nutrients and minerals.  Dried kombu can be used to make broth, added to beans to make them more digestible and eaten in salads. 

   

Pumpkin and Spinach Soup

My next recipe is a pumpkin and spinach soup which has a gentle hint of toasted cumin, if you would like a more robust flavour you can grind the cumin seeds after toasting or even add some ground corriander and chilli.

Serve with just a sprinkle of chilli flakes and some fresh corriander.... yummy!

                                                                    

Pumpkin and Spinach

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 x medium butternut pumpkin

200g of baby spinach (washed)

1 x onion chopped

2 x cloves of garlic

2 tsps cumin seeds

600ml vegtable stock

extra virgin olive oil

salt & pepper

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.

2. Cut pumpkin in half length ways, remove seeds then cut each half into 4 again length ways and place on a baking tray with a drizzle of olive oil. Place in oven to bake for approx 40 mins or until pumpkin is very soft.

3. Toast cumin seeds in a pan until lightly browned and fragrant, add 2 tblsp of olive oil to pan hen add onion and garlic and saute until soft.

4. Scoop pumpkin flesh from skin and add to the onions with half the stock, cook for 1min then add spinach and cook until wilted.

5. Blend ingredients until smooth, return to pan and add remaining stock and seasoning, and warm through. Serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a sprinkle of chilli flakes.

   

Introduction

I want the recipes on this blog to be simple and easy to follow no fuss and low maintenance. Eating gluten free (GF) and dairy free (DF) needn't be complicated or stressful, nor should it be expensive and time consuming and so difficult to achieve that we give up at the first hurdle. Many people when they go GF and DF simply substitute things like bread for GF bread and dairy for soy products. However, if we were to look at these products from a purely energetic perspective they do carry the same energy as bread and dairy to some degree and even though they do not produce obvious physical symptoms they do have the potential to alter us energetically. Thus the recipes I post will be about looking at a different way to eat, it is not about cereals or toast for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and pasta for dinner for example, it is about a way of eating that supports and nourishes the body to be in it's essence based on feeling what the body needs not what we have been told is convention.

Have you considered that it might be fun and really nourishing to have soup or stir-fry for breakfast, to eat lunch when you body tells you to not when the clock does and to eat more connected to your food and yourself?

You will find that many of the recipes have no sugar or yeast as these too affect the body energetically and that foods like potatoes, rice, tofu, fruit, legumes and pulses are used sparingly, if at all, as they are quite sugary and are often eaten as fillers or as comfort foods. However these recipes are not set in stone they are a guide as to what is possible, it is upto you to 'feel' what your body needs and then support it by adapting the recipes accordingly.

But don't panic....just because these recipes omit certain ingredients doesn't mean they will be boring, bland and tasteless and that you will be left nibbling on a lettuce leaf wondering what to eat. Instead you will find many tasty, delicious meals and snacks that will not only have your taste buds dancing for joy but your body too.